Like so many other plays before it, “The Herd” is about a family gathering that turns into a moment of crisis and confrontation. It’s a familiar formula, but British actor-playwright Rory Kinnear’s drama is an exceptionally well-written take on this scenario. Now making its U.S. premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre with a wonderful cast skillfully guided […]
Goodman Theatre’s world premiere of “The Upstairs Concierge” is a play about The Hotelman Arms, a luxury boutique hotel in Chicago that serves every waking need (no matter how ridiculous) of each celebrity guest, and its upstairs concierge, Ella Elizondo, who tries desperately to put her degree in “Comprehension of Contemporary Conciergery” to the best […]
Adults can do Lolla—oh yes they can! I go every year and I’m 54. It’s a great 4-day music fest—you can buy passes for 1, 2, 3 or 4 days—in Grant Park, the heart of our beautiful city. Unlike other fests, it’s not in the middle of nowhere. It’s somewhere good—with lake breezes, Buckingham Fountain, […]
Anthony and Rosemary don’t know what life could be like outside Mullingar—the rural Irish town where they grew up side by side. Approaching their forties and struggling with personal problems, including a land dispute between their parents, they choose to remain in the home they have always known, and love has a great deal to […]
Like any play that seriously deals with the history of race relations in America, “Two Trains Running” has dark moments. Many of the African-American characters in the late August Wilson’s play, who are gathered in a Pittsburgh diner in 1969, feel a sense of grievance over the past wrongs they’ve suffered. And yet, director Chuck […]
Steppenwolf, one of Chicago’s most famous and venerated theaters, brings attention to lesser-known theatrical companies once a year with a festival called Garage Rep. Three groups get a chance to put on shows in a space that’s actually inside Steppenwolf’s garage building. Garage Rep is always a mixed bag, but one common theme in the […]
Christine Sherrill is no stranger to the Chicago stage. This Jeff Award-winning actress has worked in some of our best theatres, including the Goodman, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, and Northlight Theatre. But when she faces the audience on the opening night of “First Wives Club” at the Oriental Theater, it […]
A Wagner opera delivers three things: a seamless score, glorious melodies and great length. Lyric Opera of Chicago‘s production of the composer’s “Tannhauser,” which opened Feb. 9 at the Civic Opera House, certainly had all of the above. But this opera is also a conflict between the spiritual and the sensual. The role of Tannhauser […]
An opera as suspenseful as a Hitchcock film, a soul-searing score, and a marvel of a two-tiered set. And that’s before we even mention the voices on stage at the Lyric Opera of Chicago‘s premiere of “The Passenger” the evening of Feb. 24. The score by Mieczysław Weinberg begins with menacing drums, painting a musical portrait […]
Scene One. Marie Antoinette and her ladies drink tea and nibble on decadent French pastries as they walk back and forth across the golden “Hall of Mirrors” and chat frivolously about fashion, gardens and men. So begins Director Robert O’Hara’s modern and unconventional production of “Marie Antoinette” at Steppenwolf Theatre. Playwright David Adjmi intends to […]
